To facilitate user operation, most home entertainment components, such as cable, terrestrial, and satellite set-top boxes, provide a remote control device to allow a user to operate the associated component from a distance, such as from a couch or chair. Other audio/video devices, such as televisions, audio receivers, digital video disc (DVD) players, video cassette recorders (VCRs), and the like, also typically provide a remote control device. Normally, a remote control device provides a number of labeled buttons or keys, in which each label, such as “channel +”, “channel −”, “volume +”, and “volume −”, describes the particular device operation or input selection to be initiated when the user presses the associated key. Thus, in some cases, the user merely looks at the remote control itself, and presses the appropriate key for the desired input.
However, many of these components may also provide a menu system presented on a television or other visual display to allow a user to initiate more complex operations, such as recording timer settings, internal clock setup, and the like. To navigate such a menu, the remote control device associated with the component typically provides a set of directional (e.g., “up”, “down”, “left”, and “right”) keys that facilitate the highlighting of a different one of a number of image elements of the displayed menu with each key press. Further, a selection key associated with the directional keys typically allows the user to select the currently highlight image element as a user input operation for the component.
Outside the realm of audio/video entertainment devices, desktop computers typically employ a computer “mouse” to allow a user to manipulate a cursor atop a graphical user interface (GUI) to select one or more graphical items, launch applications, choose a browser link, and facilitate many other computer-related activities. Laptop computer users often rely on a touchpad, small joystick, or similar device for user input; albeit with less accurate results than are normally associated with a mouse, due in part to the necessarily small physical dimensions of most input devices incorporated in laptop computers.